Trump administration rule would let more people drop Obamacare
Source: Reuters
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Trump administration proposed a rule on Thursday to allow Americans who are self-employed or work for small businesses to buy health insurance that does not comply with all Obamacare requirements in an effort to unwind the 2010 healthcare law.
The rule, put forward by the Department of Labor, would allow individuals and small businesses to form an association based on geography or industry and purchase health insurance that would be exempt from some rules of the Affordable Care Act.
The rule also allows sole proprietors to join such associations. Currently, sole proprietors can purchase individual insurance through the Obamacare individual market, created under former Democratic President Barack Obamas healthcare law.
The rule must go through a comment period but is likely to gain approval, helping to enact a similar executive order Trump signed in October.
-snip-
#HEALTH NEWS JANUARY 4, 2018 / 12:01 PM / UPDATED 24 MINUTES AGO
Yasmeen Abutaleb
3 MIN READ
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-healthcare-insurance/trump-administration-rule-would-let-more-people-drop-obamacare-idUSKBN1ET1YY
riversedge
(70,299 posts)repugs have been silent on so many outrageous behaviors by trump. They need him and his vile cabinet.
John Fante
(3,479 posts)The 2018 midterms can't get here fast enough.
iluvtennis
(19,871 posts)mahatmakanejeeves
(57,600 posts)WASHINGTON, DC The U.S. Department of Labor today announced a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to expand the opportunity to offer employment-based health insurance to small businesses through Small Business Health Plans, also known as Association Health Plans.
Up to 11 million Americans working for small businesses/sole proprietors and their families lack employer-sponsored insurance. These 11 million Americans could find coverage under this proposal. Many small employers struggle to offer insurance because it is currently too expensive and cumbersome. These employees and their families would have an additional alternative through Small Business Health Plans (Association Health Plans). These plans would close the gap of uninsured without eliminating options available in the healthcare marketplace.
Under the proposal, small businesses and sole proprietors would have more freedom to band together to provide affordable, quality health insurance for employees.
The proposed rule, which applies only to employer-sponsored health insurance, would allow employers to join together as a single group to purchase insurance in the large group market. These improvements stand to open health insurance coverage for millions of Americans and their families by making it more affordable for thousands of small businesses and sole proprietors. By joining together, employers may reduce administrative costs through economies of scale, strengthen their bargaining position to obtain more favorable deals, enhance their ability to self-insure, and offer a wider array of insurance options.
As proposed, the rule would:
Allow employers to form a Small Business Health Plan on the basis of geography or industry. A plan could serve employers in a state, city, county, or a multi-state metro area, or it could serve all the businesses in a particular industry nationwide;
Allow sole proprietors to join Small Business Health Plans, clearing a path to access health insurance for the millions of uninsured Americans who are sole proprietors or the family of sole proprietors.
The proposed rule includes important protections for Americans. Small Business Health Plans (Association Health Plans) cannot charge individuals higher premiums based on health factors or refuse to admit employees to a plan because of health factors. The Department of Labors Employee Benefits Security Administration will closely monitor these plans to protect consumers.
The NPRM will be published in the Federal Register on Jan. 5, 2018, and be available for public comment for 60 days. The Department encourages interested parties to submit comments on the proposed rule. The NPRM, along with the procedures for submitting comments, can be found at the Federal Register website.
EBSA News Release: 01/04/2018
Contact Name: Eric Holland
Email: holland.eric.w@dol.gov
Phone Number: (202) 693-4676
Release Number: 18-0002-NAT
I'll link to the Federal Register when the link becomes available.
ETA: it's available now. The link is in the news release.
Please do not chew out the person who answers the phone. He or she does not set policy.
mr_lebowski
(33,643 posts)They're proposing can be ignored by the insurance co's offering these plans.
The law of the land has not been changed in terms of what the minimum standards ('Bronze') are for insurance plans, so DoL cannot just arbitrarily say 'oh that's waived cause we say so'.
duforsure
(11,885 posts)which will again cause rates to go up even more.
Maeve
(42,288 posts)A high percentage of us using healthcare.gov are getting financial help to pay for that insurance---one of the reasons we CAN afford it now.
pnwmom
(108,994 posts)lark
(23,155 posts)He's an existential threat to all of us and to the world.